Active-duty troops to march in gay pride parade

San Diego Navy veteran Sean Sala will be one of nine people honored tomorrow for working to end the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy. Parties are planned in San Diego, and around the country, to mark the end of the policy that banned open service by gay troops.

Howard Lipin

San Diego Navy veteran Sean Sala will be one of nine people honored tomorrow for working to end the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy. Parties are planned in San Diego, and around the country, to mark the end of the policy that banned open service by gay troops.

San Diego Navy veteran Sean Sala will be one of nine people honored tomorrow for working to end the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy. Parties are planned in San Diego, and around the country, to mark the end of the policy that banned open service by gay troops. (Howard Lipin)

As the U.S. military inches toward the end of its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, hundreds of service members — both gay and straight — plan to march as a group in San Diego’s gay Pride Parade on Saturday.

It’s the first time the parade has included an active-duty military contingent, organizers say. They also think it’s a first for any gay pride parade in the nation.

The idea came from Hillcrest resident Sean Sala, a 26-year-old former sailor fresh from the ranks. He served as a Navy operations specialist from 2005 to 2011, discharged June 30.

“I’m getting emails from veterans and active-duty officers and enlisted from all over the nation. There are people flying in literally from the four corners of the nation to participate in this,” Sala said.

About 350 people have signed up for the military-themed parade entry. About 70 percent are active-duty servicemembers and the majority are gay, Sala estimated.

They will not march in uniform, which — especially under “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which banned openly gay service — could be a career-ending move. Instead, they will wear T-shirts emblazoned with Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines.

One active-duty San Diego Marine who will be marching — a veteran of two Iraq tours — said he wouldn’t have made himself so conspicuous before.

The momentum building toward repeal over the past year has made him bolder.

“It’s a great way to say, at least to San Diego, we are proud of who we are and proud of serving our country,” said the Marine, though he spoke on the condition that only his last name, Silva, would be published for fear of damaging his six-year military career.

Sala, the former sailor, said he doesn’t want to make a political statement, just to honor America’s troops — something he thought was missing from the annual gay pride parade, considered the fifth largest in the country.

The reactions to his idea in the gay community have been mixed, he said. Some people told him what he’s doing is dangerous, because “don’t ask, don’t tell” has not yet officially died.

According to Sala, one gay active-duty officer told him: I’m not as brave as you are.

Until recently, the danger of serving as an openly gay sailor was very real for Sala.

Swept up in the emotion of last year’s political debate over ending the military’s gay ban, the then-petty officer decided to reveal his sexuality during an interview with a San Diego television station.

He was lucky. His Navy commanders chose not to punish him.

The official policy on openly gay service has changed almost from month to month in the past year.

In October, a federal judge in Riverside struck down the 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as unconstitutional. Days later, a higher court stayed that decision when the U.S. Justice Department appealed. Then, after a tough political battle, Congress in December passed a repeal in a lame-duck session.

But the change didn’t immediately apply. The military has spent months briefing troops about the coming policy shift. The law demands that the defense secretary and the president certify that repeal will not harm military readiness.

Last week, a federal appeals court lifted its stay of the Riverside judge’s decision. The Pentagon said it would tell its commands to honor the court ruling and stop enforcing “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

On Thursday afternoon, it looked as though the Justice Department would appeal, again.

And, the Pentagon this week confirmed that the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines submitted their recommendations on the readiness of the forces for repeal. Action by new Defense Secretary Leon Panetta could come any day.

With that topsy-turvy history, the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network continues to advise gays now serving in uniform to keep their sexual orientation private.

That group’s director, Army veteran Aubrey Sarvis, said the San Diego contingent’s parade plans give him “some concerns.”

However, he added, “having said that, they are not in uniform, they are not speaking, no one knows who is gay or who’s straight. I think the risks are minimal for the service members.”

Sarvis said there’s impatience in the gay community to cheer its victory in the long-fought battle against the military’s gay ban.

“There is an eagerness to celebrate, and there’s years of pent-up frustration,” he said. “So what they want to do is very understandable.”

Still, organizers of the San Diego military contingent say their parade entry will be focused on paying tribute to those in uniform.

They plan to present two riderless horses, one draped in the American flag and the other covered in a rainbow flag.